Preliminary site work on the new 96-seat restaurant began this month with the demolition of Chester’s Tavern and the restaurant is now expected to be open early next year.

Restaurant licensees David and Trina Eagles, and their two children, are relocating from Sydney to Esperance at the end of November.

They said they were looking forward to becoming a part of the community.

“We’ll have approximately 80 to 100 jobs on offer, from casual work to full-time management positions,” Mr Eagles said.

“McDonald’s provides a very diverse workplace environment and has changed considerably over the past five years to stay relevant to our customers and in turn, provide crew with a fun and flexible place to work.

“We cater for young people with study and sporting commitments, as well as more mature workers who have to juggle work and family life.

“Trina and I are looking forward to meeting some quality local applicants who will provide the best service to the Esperance community,” he said.

Mr Eagles started working for McDonald’s as a crew person in 1984 and worked through the company, eventually taking on the role of franchise consultant.

After 14 years with the company, he left to work in associated industry roles, before coming back to McDonald’s as a new licensee this year.

His wife Trina also started as a crew person and currently works at McDonald’s head office in Sydney.

Demolition of the old Chester’s site started on September 30.

Sime Building and Construction, operations and project manager, Reg Jones, said that it was a challenge to carry out the demolition process to the required Australian Standards, whilst causing minimal inconvenience to the public given the building location.

Planning for demolition involved consultations with adjoining neighbours, the Esperance Shire and WorkSafe notification.

Shire of Esperance, executive manager of development services, Richard Hindley said that the Shire was waiting for external referrals before they issue the building license.

“We are looking forward to the developments progressing,” he said.